When in economic crisis, look for Radio City

The radio station relaunches its Kadki Hatao contest, both on-air and off-air, to provide a boost to its listeners in times of economic crisis

How would you feel if somebody else pays your bills in these uncertain times? Relieved, relaxed, happy might be some of the words you are looking for. Radio City thought of providing similar emotions when it relaunched its 'Kadki Hatao' campaign.

The campaign is in the form of a contest, both on-air and off-air, which was launched in January for the first time. To participate in the contest, listeners have put forward the reasons why the radio operator should pay their bills. The initiative was relaunched on March 12 and will go on till March 20 with Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru being selected for action.

Rana Barua, executive vice-president and national head, programming and marketing, Radio City, says, "During this downturn, we were looking for ways to connect with our listeners and this contest gave us a better connect with them than a regular interactive campaign.

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"We wanted to deliver the message that they should stop feeling negative about the current economic situation. We understand that the situation is very serious but feeling negative is not going to help."

In order to let the radio station share some of the burden, listeners have to convince the breakfast show RJs (radio jockeys), Archanaa and Harssh, by coming out with striking reasons. The two RJs will then select the best two out of all the reasons they get and the other listeners will then get to vote the best out of the two by sending in their votes through SMSes.

The winner will get any one of his bills (such as phone or electricity bill) reimbursed by Radio City. In the process, the other listeners who send in their votes can also mint some money on the spot.

"This is a built-in exercise in the Kadki Hatao initiative for providing some instant gratification to the station's loyalists," says Barua.

For the on-ground part, a separate RJ will visit busy places such as malls, restaurants, multiplexes, retail stores and railway stations and will ask people for reasons for getting their bills reimbursed. The initiative has drawn great response from the listeners at times when even a small financial help is a great source of happiness.

Apart from this initiative, Radio City has been trying hard to relax people's anxieties on the current downturn through hosting several interviews, polls and listener interactivity initiatives. Barua says, "However, all these activities are being carried out in a fun and lighter vein as radio is not the right medium to get heavy with the audience. People come and share their experiences keeping the fun quotient in their minds."